By Linda Conner Lambeck
WESTPORT — The school board kicked off a special meeting Tuesday acknowledging the week of Oct. 17 was a trying one for the district and particularly Staples High School.
The week began with the loss of a beloved teacher and ended with a threat that turned out to be a hoax, but which triggered a lockdown and armed police response that rattled the community.
“It truly was a very challenging week,” Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice told the Board of Education.
The board meeting, initially scheduled for Oct. 17, was postponed to Oct. 25 after it was learned that Michael Sansur, 52, a tech education teacher who Scarice had described as “inspirational,” was killed in a weekend car crash on Interstate 95.
Board Chairwoman Lee Goldstein said Sansur, who taught at Staples 18 years, touched the lives of many students and colleagues.
“The outpouring of real affection, it was overwhelming,” said Goldstein. “On behalf of the board I would like to extend our condolences to his family.”
Scarice called Sansur a favorite among students and a pillar of the faculty.
“A testament to Michael’s impact can be the shrine outside his classroom filled with cards, letters and student work,” he said.
Scarice said he did not know Sansur personally, but that it was clear from the multitude of messages he received from students, parents and former students that he was a professional who put relationships and connections with students at the forefront of his priorities.
“I feel I missed out,” Scarice said.
The superintendent asked the meeting for a moment of silence.
The Westport Education Association, meanwhile, has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to help defray medical costs for Sansur’s son, who was seriously injured in the accident, and to assist with future expenses for the family. Sansur also was the father of two high-school-age daughters. As of Oct. 25, the fund had raised more than $35,000.
How the Staples lockdown went down
On Friday, the district received a call early in the morning that prompted a lockdown at Staples and shelter-in-place order at nearby Bedford Middle School.
The caller said that there was an active shooter at the school, police revealed later in the day.
Police also were deployed to all of the town’s other schools.
“The threat turned out to be a hoax, but the lockdown and shelter in place were very real,” Goldstein said. “It shouldn’t have to be this way.”
The lockdown lasted until about 10:45 a.m. after officials determined the threat was a “swatting” — or prank — call similarly made to a number of other communities around the state, according to police.
Goldstein praised the school district’s staff and police for their response.
Scarice said there has yet to be a formal debriefing with the Police Department, but it appears the response of students, staff and first responders followed protocols.
“This was an armed response,” Scarice said. “It was most unsettling.”
As students and staff were in lockdown, first responders went room to room with weapons to make sure everyone was safe.
Once the lockdown was lifted, a decision was made to keep students in school for the rest of the day to make sure they were all in a good place, Scarice added.
“The best people rise up in moments like this,” the superintendent said. “I couldn’t be prouder.”
Staples Principal Stafford Thomas Jr. said to call it a difficult week is an understatement. The shock of both incidents had Staples students leaning on each other and adults for support.
Freelance writer Linda Conner Lambeck, a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications, is a member of the Education Writers Association.
My son only connected and fully enjoyed one class and one teacher at Staples…..thank you Mr. Sansur. Staples students will never know what they will now miss.
Regarding the active shooter hoax, police Chief Foti credits having an SRO (school resource officer) in place at Staples with contributing greatly to mitigating what could have been a much worse situation, due to the ability to get immediate information on what was happening inside the school and to verify whether or not the report of what was happening was accurate. In my opinion, if the SRO was not on scene this may have turned into a full-blown evacuation incident. This would have resulted in much greater stress and negative effect on our kids, as well as given the bad actor positive feedback that his/her efforts were successful. This incident joins a very long list of instances supporting the benefits of the SRO program.
I vocally supported the “test” of the SRO program years back, which, although asked that there be SROs in all our schools, resulted in just one at Staples. At the time I was concerned that this would only point a “bad actor” to just hit one of the unprotected schools, still very much my concern. Since that time, I have raised my voice at every opportunity to attempt to get the dialogue moving towards expanding the SRO program to all our schools, along with more action to “harden” the facilities. I’ve been largely ignored, marginalized or the buck has been passed by the Selectman’s / Selectwoman’s office and the RTM Members to the BOE as the lead for opening this discussion.
The past year and a half, due to more school violence across the country I once again tried to get the discussion on the table with the Board of Education, which I was told, is the body that needs to take the lead on consideration of the expansion. Again, I have been largely ignored or placated with promises that it would be on “the next agenda”, which never materializes.
So here we are and our kids are still not fully protected. The SRO program not only addresses violent episodes, but its value is more positive in fostering of relationships early between kids and police, early identification and intervention of potential mental health or disciplinary issues and a host of other benefits. Too costly? What’s a child’s life worth?
So the BOE sits and hopes that these episodes continue to turn out to be false alarms. Unfortunately, hope is not a strategy nor a solution. Wake up Westport. Will anyone join in the call for this proven protection?